Real Salt Lake, MLS laughingstock in its early years, is on the cusp of American soccer history. At home tonight (10 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Channel, Telefutura) for the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League finals, RSL is in prime position to become the first MLS club to earn a berth in the Club World Cup.

Thanks to a 2-2 draw at Monterrey last week, Real would advance with a victory; with a 0-0 tie; or with a 1-1 deadlock. (Away goals weigh heavily.)

MLS teams have won the regional title before — D.C. United in 1998 and the Los Angeles Galaxy two years later — but none has participated in the world event, which will be held in December in Japan.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

For the third time in two weeks, Real Madrid and Barcelona get together to renew international club soccer’s greatest rivalry. (With all due respect to Boca Juniors-River Plate and Rangers-Celtic, among others.) This encounter comes in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals; the return match is next week at Barcelona. Live TV coverage is available on FX, a mainstream Fox cable channel. The pregame show begins at 2 p.m. ET, with kickoff sometime after 2:30. You can also tune into Fox Deportes and the online service foxsoccer.tv for live coverage. Fox Soccer Channel will offer an encore presentation at 5 p.m.

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

The league’s five-man disciplinary committee has spent the past two days discussing a possible long-term suspension for Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan, whose harsh challenge broke two bones in Seattle midfielder Steve Zakuani’s leg. An announcement is possible today. My guess: an additional four-game suspension on top of the automatic one-match penalty, plus a $10,000 fine.

Steven Goff has covered soccer for The Washington Post since the early 1990s. His beats include D.C. United, MLS and the U.S. national teams. He has been on assignment at every World Cup since 1994, plus four Women's World Cups. His hometown is Keene, N.H.